Characteristics Of Bilbo In The Hobbit

An Unexpected Hero

Can a short man with fuzzy feet really be a hero? J.R.R. Tolkien made that possible when he wrote the book The Hobbit. The short man with fuzzy feet is named Bilbo Baggins, and he is a hobbit. Bilbo is forced into a crazy adventure when 13 dwarves show up at his hobbit hole for breakfast. Bilbo gains three traits, cleverness, courage, and reliability, which teach him that it is not necessary to be tall and strong to be a hero. Bilbo begins his adventure very reluctant, but by the end of it he is an unexpected hero.

Throughout the story Bilbo’s “Tookish” side comes out and he becomes very clever. The first time that Bilbo showed how clever he really was, he was lost in the dark tunnels of the goblins’ realm. Bilbo runs

into a slimy creature called Gollum whose intention was to eat him. To waste time Bilbo played a riddle game with the creature agreeing that if Bilbo won, Gollum would show him the way out. However, if Gollum won Bilbo would be his next meal. After countless riddles, Bilbo cheated and asked the question “What have I got in my pocket?” (78) This question led Bilbo into finding his way out. Bilbo was also very clever towards the end of the book. Bilbo told Bombur that he would takeover the night shift, when really Bilbo just wanted to make sure all of the dwarves were sleeping.

Late that night Bilbo went to a corner of the inner chamber and drew the Arkenstone from his bag. The hobbit then took Thorin’s most prized possession , the Arkenstone, down the mountain to give to the Elvenking and Bard. This action showed Bilbo’s cleverness because he gave up his portion of the treasure just to stop the dwarves and the elves from going to war. Many of Bilbo’s actions during his journey required a lot of courage. Bilbo showed his courage when he created an escape plan for him and the dwarves. He helped the escape from the Elvenking's dungeon. His plan was to shove all 13 dwarves into into separate barrels and float them down the river. There was, however, a weak spot in Bilbo’s plan. The hobbit forgot how he was going to get into a barrel. The hobbit took all of the courage he had, deciding to jump onto one of the apple-smelling barrels. Baggins could have drowned if he would’ve fallen into the wavy river. That didn’t stop Bilbo though! The hobbit also showed courage when he met the dragon of the Lonely Mountain, Smaug. Bilbo ends up having a battle of wits with

Smaug. The hobbit plucks up just enough courage to continue responding to Smaug’s deceiving words. The dragon tried to make the hobbit doubt the dwarves honesty by saying “A fourteenth share, I suppose, or something like it, those were the terms, eh? But what about delivery? What about cartage? What about armed guards and trolls?” (225) Smaug almost got into the hobbits head, but Bilbo did not allow that to happen. Smaug was very good at tricking people into telling him the truth. It was courageous of Bilbo to stand up against the ferocious dragon.
Bilbo becomes very reliable towards the latter part of the book.

When the 13 dwarves and Bilbo are in Mirkwood, they are captured by wood-elves. Luckily the hobbit was able to put his ring of invisibility on. Thus turning him invisible before the elves caught him. Bilbo then secretly followed them to the Elven Kings dungeon. The company relied on the hobbit to create an escape plan in which he succeeded. Another time the dwarves relied on bilbo was when he saved the from the giant spiders of Mirkwood. Bilbo first comes across his friends tied up in a tree while wearing his invisibility ring. The hobbit created a plan to lead the spiders away from the dwarves so he could untie them. To get the spiders to chase him he would sing “Old fat spider spinning in a tree! Old fat spider can’t see me! Attercop! Attercop! Won’t you stop, stop your spinning and look for me?” (159) After distracting the spiders, Bilbo went and cut his friends free.

Although Bilbo was unenthusiastic to start his adventure, he ends up being an unexpected hero. The hobbit is not the type of hero that conquers his enemy through force, but of wit and the use of riddles. This shows that it is not impossible for a short man with fuzzy feet to be the hero of a

story.